The face of Japanese society is rapidly changing. 

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications just announced the results of its annual demographic survey in Japan, and its key findings reveal some interesting insights.

Firstly, it showed that, as of 1 January this year, the Japanese population stood at 120,653,227 — a sizeable decrease of 908,000 people, or 0.75 percent, from the previous year. Both the number and rate of decline were the largest since the survey began in 1968, with declines occurring in 46 out of 47 prefectures, and Tokyo being the only exception.

The survey, based on the Basic Resident Register, showed that Japan’s population has been declining for 16 consecutive years, with the number of deaths reaching a record high of approximately 1.59 million and the number of births reaching a record low of approximately 680,000. At this rate, the Japanese population is likely to fall below 120 million by 2026.

By prefecture, only Tokyo saw an increase in the number of Japanese people (up 0.13 percent), while Akita saw the largest decrease of 1.91 percent.

▼ Akita Prefecture

Conversely, the number of foreigners in Japan increased by approximately 354,000 (10.65 percent) to 3,677,463, the highest number since the survey began in 2013, with increases recorded in all prefectures for the third year running. This means that foreigners now make up about 2.96 percent of all residents, compared to 2.66 percent last year.

Among foreigners, 22,738 births and 9,073 deaths were recorded — again, record figures for both. Foreign residents also gained in both city and rural areas, with 94 percent in cities and wards and 6 percent in towns or villages, indicating that some are making the move to smaller communities.

As you might expect, Tokyo recorded the largest concentration of foreigners, with 721,223 foreign residents in the metropolis (5.15 percent of Tokyo’s total population), followed by high numbers in Osaka and Yokohama. Interestingly, some small towns are said to have a foreign population ratio far above the average, like Oizumi-machi in Gunma Prefecture, where foreigners make up about 20 percent of its roughly 42,000 population.

The increase for foreigners was especially high in Hokkaido, which recorded a gain of 19.37, percent, and small towns like Akaiwa Village in Gunma Prefecture, with a gain of 10.86 percent.

▼ Akaiwa Village

Foreigners are overwhelmingly of working age: 85.77 percent of foreign residents are 15–64 years old, compared to just 59.04 percent for Japanese residents. Only 6.08 percent of foreigners are aged 65 and over, compared to 29.58 percent of Japanese residents. These results indicate foreign nationals are disproportionately younger and more likely to be in the workforce, and national data shows Japan has over 2.3 million foreign workers, an uptick of 12.4 percent from the previous year.

With Japanese nationals decreasing year-upon-year, it’s projected that Japan may need up to 7 million foreign workers by 2040. The influx of foreigners is currently counterbalancing the steep drop in Japanese births and working-age people, proving their presence is rapidly becoming essential for Japan’s local communities, as well as its labor market. The upward trend in the number of foreign residents shows no signs of stopping, so we’ll be interested to see how these numbers change by the time the next survey is revealed in 2026.

Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (1, 2) via Hachima Kikou 
Top image: Pakutaso
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